FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Nordex, which competes with GE and Siemens Energy in the market for onshore wind turbines, swung to a core profit in the third quarter, citing the completion of high-margin projects.
The wind sector is currently battling inflation and permitting delays, a major challenge for equipment makers that have to renegotiate contracts to make sure they're not left with loss-making projects.
Nordex, in which Spain's Acciona owns 47.1%, posted third-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 48 million euros ($51.4 million), compared with a 27 million loss in the same period last year.
Frankfurt-listed shares in the company were up 2.8% at 0716 GMT.
"The third quarter was marked by a high installation level for the Nordex Group. As a result, we achieved an improvement in our sales and earnings as higher-margin projects were completed," CEO Jose Luis Blanco said.
"Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we also expect a high level of intensity with some short-term challenges emerging which can result in increased volatility in project execution."
The group confirmed its outlook, still expecting sales to rise to 5.6 billion to 6.1 billion euros in 2023 from 4.5 billion last year, and an EBITDA margin of between -2% to +3%, compared with -1.5% in 2022.
($1 = 0.9346 euros)